An Extended Vacation

It sure feels like it! What if you’re still in a place you only intended to visit and spend time during summer but ended up staying longer? What if you’re housed next to a hotspring resort, near the lake and with a view to the sunset across Laguna de Bay?

Well, it’s happening to us…we’re on an extended vacation, sort-of. We’ve decided to stay longer in the town where we originally started our family. Staying longer means renting a place for the family, and we got a good one near our relatives, which is a main requirement for us.

It was not that difficult a decision to move to a new place, especially when the kids were most excited when they were asked about it and are actually happiest when their Tita Tin, Tito Jay and Tito Cris are around. Of course we had to do the most difficult part, i.e. facilitating the transfer, including the transfer to a new Montessori school.

Well, school has started and so far so good.

While the hassles of getting used to a new place and some degree of longing for the comfort of a home we’ve gotten used to for years also get to us at times, we relish on the thought of new possibilities on the horizon, which is enough to get us through.

When one feels like having an extended vacation, the excitement never runs out. But things should settle down somehow and we’re getting there. And the signs tell us that a new season has begun, but then again the adventure continues…

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Top Five Signs that the Rainy Season is Here in Los Banos, Laguna

Yes, after the much anticipated and celebrated first rain in Los Banos, Laguna, many signs indicate that the summer season has indeed ended and the rainy season is at hand. Here are our top five signs that the rains are here to stay:

1. More overcast and less sunny period. Since the first one about a week ago and without missing a day, rain has become a daily event in the town of Los Banos. We even had a swimming party that was rained over.

2. Troublesome laundry. There are changes in the laundry process, namely: appearance of urine-soaked sheets and extended air-drying of clothes under a canopy, among others. The latter is obviously a consequence of the shortened exposure of the laundered clothes to the sun because of increasing overcast and rain period, while the former has to do with colder nights that may result in “accidental rain” under the sheets. This is particularly true for families with preschoolers or toddlers that are in the early stage of weaning from diapers. Our own toddler who’s turning three in a few months has almost perfected last month without diaper and without “accidents”. However, he has wet the bed in most recent nights except in one when a diaper was successfully put on while he’s fast asleep. You see, he refuses to wear one ever since we encouraged and praised him for not needing it.

3. Mating flights of soil insects. As moisture become sufficient to soften the dry earth, which is a better condition for the establishment of new nests, soon-to-be queen and king termites or ants leave their old colony and perform their nuptial flights. Aerial displays of these insects and their attraction towards light at night have started to become irritants as they enter houses. Eateries even closed early on the initial big swarm of tiny winged ants on the first day of June here in Los Banos as they go to exposed lights and accidentally fall into food and even get into people’s eyes!  

Note: in the photo to the right are bodies of two species of ants on our lawn chair found in the morning after.  At the bottom are fecal material of lizards that feasted on the winged ants that swarmed around an outdoor light that night.

4. Mud on shoes and slippers. This is a big deal for people who like their shoes squeaky clean. It’s also a big deal for our toddler who likes to run around but hates sand or wet soil on his slippers. He wants the mud off immediately through washing that makes the situation worse as soil easily clings to wet slippers and feet that again irritates him even more.

5. Greener grounds. Dormant seeds and vegetative parts get enough moisture to emerge and thus making what used to be dry, bare soil green. Greener, happier plants contribute to a greener, happier environment- a much appreciated ambiance to replace the hot sunny days of summer that is now but a memory and at the same time a dream to look forward to next year.

It’s goodbye summer…a new season has begun!

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